Cowhorn Viognier

I attended my first Wine Bloggers Conference in 2012 in Portland, Oregon. Obviously, there was just a bit of Oregon wine being experienced there. Prior to that vinous exposure, I can't say that I knew much about Oregon wines at all. I was aware that Pinot Noir was a big thing there and I'd heard of the Willamette Valley but not a lot more and I certainly didn't know that it's pronounced "Willamette, dammit." We just don't see much in the way of Oregonian wines up here north of the 49th Parallel - maybe the odd commercial wine or something from one of the better known producers in one of the specialty wine shops. There's certainly not much in the way of small producers to be found in Vancouver though (especially with the often dramatic currency differences between the U.S. and Canadian dollars).

Accordingly, it was a great pleasure to learn of some Oregon wineries that I likely never would have discovered otherwise. Cowhorn was one of my favourite finds during the opening night tasting and I certainly don't think we'd find an intriguing producer like this up here. Indeed, Wine Enthusiast magazine has named Cowhorn one of five "Must-Try Northwest Wineries You've Never Heard of" and  Wine Enthusiast magazine has proclaimed it "a Southern Oregon cult producer." We have a hard enough time finding our own BC "cult" wines.

I, therefore, made a determined effort to visit Cowhorn when Boo and I took our road trip to San Francisco in 2013. Perhaps it's not too surprising that we made a number of winery stops on that trip - Willamette, Napa, Sonoma, Anderson - but the wineries of southern Oregon aren't nearly as well known or as conveniently located next to each other. Luckily, we found Cowhorn - tucked away in seemingly the middle of nowhere - just before they were about to lock up the front gate.

Unfortunately, we were well over our limit of wines that we could bring home with us duty-free across the border - not to mention that the car was completely packed to the hilt - but I had to grab at least a couple of wines, border consequences be damned. Seeing as how I'm in the last 50 wines of this Odyssey, I think it's only fitting that I add a new fave.

1956.  2011 Cowhorn Viognier (Applegate Valley - Oregon)

The first note that drew me to Cowhorn at the WBC12 tasting was that it had gone the biodynamic route. For those unfamiliar with "biodynamics," I sometimes refer to it as "organic farming on steroids with a touch of mysticism thrown in for good measure." Knowing that one of the tenets of biodynamic farming involves the burying of a cowhorn filled with manure so that applications can be prepared from the fermented contents, they had me at the name.

It didn't hurt that Cowhorn makes Rhône-style whites and reds. Being a Rhône Ranger - on the consumer side - it wasn't that hard of a sell. Of course, the wines spoke volumes as well.

In 2002, Bill and Barbara Steele purchased a neglected 117-acre farm that's in the Siskiyou Mountains, not far from the Oregon/California border, and inherited a property awash in "20-foot tall blackberries, weeds and squatters." They then studied the lands and determined that they could grow grapes on the lands that were an old river bed. The rockiness of the property reminded them of the soils in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the Rhône and they slowly began transforming the land. Their first vintages saw them sell a whopping 40 cases in 2008. By the time we visited them in 2013, they were up to between 1700 and 2000 cases. Ultimately, they'd like to reach 3000 cases annually.

The 2011 vintage only saw 150 cases of Viognier produced and it's a full, creamy wine. Some of the richness results from being aged in oak (15% new) but Bill tries to let the fruit - and the land - talk as much as it can and he uses natural yeasts and adds minimal sulphites. After all, what's the sense in working so hard to bring the land to life if you turn around and mask the flavours of the wine.

The Cowhorn property also produces asparagus, cherries, artichokes and hazelnuts inoculated with Périgord black truffle among its crops. Bill told Boo and I that he's referred to as "Mr. Asparagus" at the county fair.

I certainly hope that we get another chance to visit.

A Pinot Found in the Pantry

1921.  2007 Crowley Entre Nous Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

Tyson Crowley is a New York transplant who relocated to Oregon in 1995 and started working in local wineries - such as Erath and Cameron - and a little farther afield with a vintage in New Zealand. While working as assistant winemaker at Cameron, Crowley made his own first four barrels of Pinot Noir in 2005. The next year, he made six barrels and, in 2007, he decided to branch out on his own after 12 years of learning and working with others. This 2007 vintage is, therefore, his third bottling but his first after setting up his own shop.

Crowley is still a small producer. Even today, the winery only produces about 2500 cases and, to be honest, I don't recall where I picked up this bottle.

This is one of those bottles in our cellar that have just been there for awhile. Seeing as how I don't tend to buy American wines up in Canada (as our taxes - and sometimes our dollar - can make the prices seem prohibitive), my guess is that I picked it up during a short vacation in New York, Seattle or North Carolina. Funny, but a visit to the local wine shops is pretty much a given part of any vacation I'm on. Once there, I generally ask one of the shopkeepers for some suggestions since I don't tend to know any of the wines available.

Not that the bottle's provenance matters at this time, the bottle has a bit of age on it now and, as far as I can tell from other posts and articles online, the '07 Oregon vintage is now drinking better for that additional aging. The vintage was apparently a tougher one and the wines - Pinot Noir in particular - started off rather uninteresting but have been growing in depth over time.

Crowley has a good reputation as being a producer of value wines and that is likely the reason for my taking a recommendation from one of those vacation wineshops. It may still be the vintage but I found the wine to be fairly Old World in its presentation. There was still some New World fruit - particularly cherry notes - but the wine was pretty earthy with a spicy kick on the finish. I'm no expert on Willamette Pinot but I tend to associate a bit more fruit with the limited number of Oregon wines that I've knocked back.

Good thing that profile goes right along with pork sausage and garlic potatoes.

A Rex Hill Pinot to Remember

Well, now that the Canucks have been knocked out of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, my evening TV viewing will certainly be freed up in the weeks to come. Looks like we'll probably move out of the BC Syrah for a bit seeing as how I made Syrah the theme wine for the Canuck/Flames series.

Now that I'm into the final 100 wines of this Wine Odyssey, I'm hoping to open a few bottles that we've been hiding away for awhile. Filling the glass with some Willamette Pinot seemed to be as good a place as any.

Our Vancouver market doesn't see a whole lot of Oregon wine available on general release at the government liquor stores. There might be a few wines in the specialty shops but I think you pretty much have to visit the private wine shops to find much in the way of selection and even those shops will likely have only a limited number of bottles to choose from. It's a shame given the proximity of Oregon to BC.

That being said, it's not too surprising that I don't have much of a grasp of Oregon wines. In light of that limited knowledge, it was an exciting time when I had a brief exposure to the region while attending the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference that was held in Portland. One of my favourite memories of WBC12 was our visit to the Willamette Valley. Conference attendees were asked to jump onto a bus not knowing what their destination would be. Turns out that I made a great choice - our bus ended up at Rex Hill winery where they teamed up with an assortment of their neighbours for a vineyard tour, cellar tasting and wine dinner in the winery's garden.

It certainly didn't hurt that, during our dinner at Rex Hill, we were treated to a taste of the 1992 Pinot Noir - poured from a 9-litre Salmanazar bottle. That's a whole case of standard size bottles poured into one.

The afternoon and evening left enough of an impression that I made sure that Rex Hill was one of the half dozen or so wineries that Boo and I visited when we had a chance to spend a day in the Willamette on our California road trip a couple of years later.

I don't think I've ever seen a bottle of Rex Hill for sale in Vancouver; so I'm happy that I was able to pick a couple bottles during those two visits.

1906.  2008 Rex Hill Reserve Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

The winery website says that 2008 was seen as "one of the finest vintages on record" at Rex Hill - "a vintage defined by the vineyard rather than the weather because each site developed fully to reveal their pedigree." The winery says that the '08 vintage should age gracefully for many years and we can attest to the fact that this bottle still had plenty of life to it. This was definitely a fruit-driven bottling but both Boo and I thought that the integration and complexity of the tannins and bright, dark cherry notes was both explosive and tasty. No doubt, the depth of flavours, in part, resulted from the fact that the Reserve Pinot is a blending of the winery's finest barrels from a variety of vineyards and blocks.

The estate vineyard, itself, is dry framed, using biodynamic farming practices. You can argue how big a part this decision may have played in the wine's profile but, in my mind at least, the dry farming should definitely result in reduced yields of more expressive grapes. Rex Hill was only established in 1982 and it saw a change in ownership in 2007 but the winery has concentrated on premium Pinot Noir since day one, with a small production of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. During my WBC12 visit, we were told that they produce around 10,000 cases - as opposed to 100,000 - and they strive to make the best use of the land while revitalizing and enhancing that soil with products and by-products that come from the same lands.

For me, this is New World Pinot at its best - and the wine's a worthy addition to the Odyssey's last choices for The List.

Pinot Envy

I don't always take the opportunity to add a bottle to The List when it comes to the various tastings hosted by the BC Wine Appreciation Society - primarily because I don't finish an entire bottle with the folks I'm immediately next too. But how could I not add a bottle after another stop on the series of BCWAS 10th Anniversary tastings. After all, this time around it was a double blind Pinot Noir tasting.

This is the third blind tasting that BCWAS has thrown to feature popular varietal wines that are regularly produced and well received in BC, the first two being Cabernet Franc and Syrah. This Pinot tasting was exciting because the province's wine regions are becoming particularly well known for their Pinot Noirs. Growing conditions in the province can be quite similar to those classic Pinot regions: Burgundy, Oregon and New Zealand. So, it was time to see how BC's Pinots measured up - against both some international wines and amongst our own producers.

The plan was to hold a double blind tasting of twelve wines - nine from BC and three international. Attendees (almost all members of BCWAS) were to taste all twelve wines and identify their top five choices in order. A grand compilation of those picks was then tallied and the big reveal was made.

In choosing the evening's wines, the Society (and, in the spirit of full disclosure, I was named Cellarmaster last year) tried to pick wines that both represented a variety of BC's wine regions and were wines that could boast a pedigree amongst their peers. As such, we included wines from Lake Country, Kelowna, Okanagan Falls, Summerland, Osoyoos (all in the Okanagan Valley) and the Similkameen Valley. Choosing the three international wines was a little more difficult in that there were a lot to choose from and we were trying to keep the price points in a similar range - and, funnily, nice Burgundy, Central Otago and Oregon's Willamette Valley wines tend to skew a tad higher than a lot of the local wines.

Society members were both pleased, if not a little surprised, to see how the results flowed. The Burgundy (2009 Louis Jadot Santenay) - which was incidentally the most expensive wine of the night at $45 - and the Willamette Valley (2013 Evesham Wood) both finished in the bottom four, as did Blue Mountain's 2011 Reserve. Those familiar with Okanagan wines know that Blue Mountain was one of the first BC wineries to become known for producing wines worth searching out - and their Pinot Noir has always been at the forefront. I think there were a number of folks surprised by the "poor" placing. Rather than recap all of the wines that evening and elaborate on the final results, I'll just refer everyone to Russell Ball's comprehensive Adventures in BC Wine post. Russell has put together a great recap of the wines and how they were received.

As reported by Russ, four of the wines stood out in the choices made by the attendees at large. I think it will suffice to say that my tastes weren't necessarily in sync with the rest of those in attendance. Only one of my five picks was included in the evening's top four - where it finished third. Even though I'd ranked my fifth choice, I think I'll make that the bottle that I add to The List.

1881.  2012 Meyer Family Vineyards - Reimer Pinot Noir (Okanagan Valley VQA)

I'm hardly taken aback by seeing a Meyer wine near the top of our highly sophisticated poll/tasting. After all, the winery's proprietors, JAK Meyer and Janice Stevens, set up shop to explore their passion for premium, single vineyard Pinots and Chardonnays. Quite the fave of BCWAS, this bodes well for a dinner that the society is going to host with Meyer Family Vineyards in late May.

I was drawn to the full body the Reimer displayed in comparison with the other wines but I found it displayed a more earthy, minerality profile than some of the more fruit forward wines that were poured. Regular readers will know that I can be a sucker for big fruit.

The tasting's top two picks of the night - the 2013 Eau Vivre (the only wine from the Similkameen Valley) and the 2012 Kim Crawford Rise and Shine Central Otago didn't break out of the pack for me. The fact that my faves for the evening were revealed as Haywire's 2011 Canyonview, the aforementioned Blue Mountain Reserve and Cedar Creek's 2012 Platinum Block 2 served to re-inforce the fact that I've gravitated to those wines and wineries on many occasion when given a choice. It would seem that I like those wines whether I know what's in my glass - or not. The biggest surprise for me was that I'd ranked the 2012 50th Parallel Pinot as my third pick and I was only recently introduced to them - in fact, it was on last year's BCWAS Bus Tour. Guess they'll be yet another winery to watch for down the road.

All in all, I think the Society was more than pleased by the evening. Some of the participating wineries may not be so thrilled with their placing but it's interesting to note that every one of the twelve wines received an assortment of votes. Indeed, every wine - save one - received at least one first place vote.

I'm already looking forward to the next varietal blind tasting that BCWAS is going to host. The early contender is Riesling - and you know I loves my Riesling.

Cliff Creek & a Southern Oregon Sangiovese

Admittedly, I haven't quite gotten around to writing about our entire road trip this Spring. I think we were still stopped for a couple of days in Sonoma - on our way to San Fran - before I had to jump through a bit of a blog-based time warp and put a "few" bottles on hold. I'll still have to get back to posting those "missing" bottles; however, in the meantime, we opened up one of the wines that we picked up while stopped in Southern Oregon on our way back to the Great White North.

I may still have to write about our winery visits from that trip but I suppose we can enjoy the fruits of our travelling efforts.

1456.  2009 Cliff Creek Sangiovese (Southern Oregon)

Knowing very little about Oregon wines in general, I think it's darned safe to say that I know even less about the wineries in Southern Oregon. It's my understanding that winemaking in the region is quite a recent phenomenon - at least from a commercial standpoint - and that the climate is quite a bit different from the better known Willamette Valley and its Pinot Noirs. I happened upon a couple of Southern Oregon producers at the opening night event held at the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference in Portland last year - however, I don't believe that Cliff Creek was one of the wines I tasted. We "stumbled" upon the winery when our hosts at our Grant's Pass accommodation - the marvellous Weasku Inn - pointed them out as one of their favourite wineries in the region.
 
Cliff Creek is owned and operated by the Garvin family and, even though their first vines were only planted in 2000, there are already three generations of Garvin's at work at the winery. We had the pleasure of working our way through a full tasting with Roy Garvin. He normally wouldn't have been pouring in the tasting room but the young lady who started out with us had only been with the winery for a week. After stumping her on our first two questions, she went into the back to run our questions by Roy and, rather than simply passing along some answers, he wandered out and proceeded to keep the tasting going for well over an hour.

The winery now has around 70 acres under vine and - despite being in Oregon - there isn't any Pinot Noir to be found in their vineyard. The climate down South receives more heat units and sunlight than anywhere else in the state. Accordingly, it is nicely suited for warm-weather loving varieties such as Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot and Syrah.

Although producing Sangiovese wasn't an original goal for Cliff Creek, a small block of the variety was added in the second round of plantings. The first so many vintages of the Sangiovese were sold to other producers; however, with the '09 vintage, the Garvin's decided to keep the fruit and make their own wine. The Sangiovese is definitely a limited release bottling and was earmarked for release only to the winery's Wine Club members; however, we'd managed to sweet talk Roy long enough that he not only let us try the wine before its public release but he allowed us to buy a bottle.

As a rule, varietal Sangiovese isn't a wine that is perpetually found in my glass. Many of the Chianti's that I've tried in the Vancouver market are a little too acid-driven and light on fruit - or too expensive - for my taste. The Cliff Creek, however, had a little more body and a touch more red fruit on the palate. I think it could definitely stand its ground against its Tuscan brethren.

The fact that it's a bottle I'd normally only run across once in a blue moon makes it even more of a treat.

And, speaking of treats, Cliff Creek also produces a limited release Super Tuscan that we were able to snag a bottle of as well. More news on that one down the road.

A Makeshift (Hardly) Dinner Club

As if they hadn't had enough planning on their plates. Fast on the heels of last month's stylin' wedding, Tyrant and Panda Guy stepped up to the mantle - or the kitchen counter to be more specific - to host the next round of the Dinner Club.

I think everyone in the Dinner Club would have been more than agreeable to returning to Salt Spring Island and simply taking in the beauty of the happy couple's home while eating leftovers from the wedding. That wouldn't do for Tyrant, the consummate host, however. Indeed, Tyrant didn't want to subject everyone to another round of long ferry rides; so, he arranged a guest location for Dinner Club at Axel and the English Doc's gracious home back in Vancouver.

2007 Monmousseau Cuvée J.M. Brut (AOC Touraine - Loire - France)

We started off the evening with what turned out to be the only leftover from the wedding - a little bubbly. It would seem that, despite the incredible amount of wine that was downed at the wedding, folks managed to leave just enough of the Monmousseau uncorked to toast the boys' two week anniversary. As a leftover, the evening's bubbles don't make it to The List since the 2007 is already there. I think I can live with that though. Particularly since there'd be more than enough bottles added as the evening progressed.

1437.  2009 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon (Yountville - Napa Valley - California)

From bubbles, we ventured straight into a big gun. I don't generally think of a Cali Cab as a cocktail wine and, interestingly enough, the girls seemed to like the heft of the wine even more than the guys but there were no complaints on any front. Charles Krug is part of the Mondavi wine universe and the '09 vintage was fleshed out with small percentages of Petit Verdot, Merlot, Cab Franc, Syrah and Malbec. Boo and I didn't take in Charles Krug when we passed through Yountville and Napa this Spring. We might need to consider another road trip.

As much as I could have just lounged around in the boys' comfy living room or wandered downstairs to watch the Canucks' game on the giant projection screen, it took no coaxing on Tyrant's part to make our way to the table and settle in for the evening's repast. Tyrant had announced that he was dialling things back a notch and subscribing to a "less is more" mantra this time around. After you take a look at the evening's fare, you'll wonder what might have hit our plates if this was toning things down.

1438.  2010 St. Urbans-Hof Riesling (Mosel - Germany)

1439.  2010 Wild Goose - Stoney Slope Riesling (VQA Okanagan Valley)

A duo of Rieslings were matched to the first course of Roasted Sweet Pumpkin Soup. You'll note that a good portion of the soup was already gone before I took a picture of the wines. Sometimes, the food can be so tasty that I forget my primary aspiration should be to document the wines over all thoughts of enjoying a meal. Silly me.

The pairing of the two Rieslings provided an interesting comparison between a couple of wines that, I think, are pretty representative of classic stylings of Riesling from both Mosel and the Okanagan. As much as I love the bright acidity and citrus of Okanagan Rieslings, I think the more honeyed German wine paired a little bit better with the evening's soup. I'll have to remember this St. Urbans-Hof. Riesling might be my favourite white varietal but I don't know much about German producers. I guess that's just another task to consider moving forward.

1440.  2009 Soter Vineyards - North Valley Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

1441.  2010 Evesham Wood - Illahe Vineyard Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

Next up was a duo of Willamette Pinots matched to a Seared Duck Carpaccio with Fennel and Hazelnuts. I'd be willing to order this up every night of the week and pay a pretty penny for it. I guess there's some method behind the madness when it comes to perennially pairing Pinot with duck.

Since attending the Wine Bloggers' Conference in Portland, there's been more Oregon Pinot on my horizon recently than ever before. I wasn't yet familiar with these two, however. I recall having run across the Soter name previously but I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything about them. I don't think I've even heard of Evesham Wood before. I am quite happy to be cognizant of them now though. Both wines were a pleasure to drink but I noted that the Evesham Wood won the "Pinot Round." I see that the Illahe Vineyard is a warmer site in the Willamette and that may lend the wines from that source to exhibit a bit more fruit on the palate - and that's generally not a bad profile for this guy. I have no memory of who brought the wine or where they found it locally but I'm saddened to learn that there wasn't much of it made. The current 2011 vintage was only 250 cases big.

If this was to be my only foreseeable chance to try these Willamette babies, we luckily had a bit of time to sit back and savour the Pinots. Tyrant and Panda Guy gave us a bit of break before the next course and a refill of the Evesham Wood was welcome indeed - as was the opportunity to head back downstairs to the theatre room and discover that the Canucks had managed to pull the game out of the fire. That favourable result was more than a worthy of a toast at the dinner table.

1442.  1998 Château de Beaucastel - Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe (AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe - Rhône - France)

1443.  2010 Grant Burge - The Holy Trinity (Barossa - Australia)

One of the side benefits of having Tyrant as part of the Dinner Club is that he has a healthy cellar - and some of his collection is starting to reach its "best before" date. A decided perk for all of us is that Tyrant often likes to us the Dinner Club as an "excuse" to bring out one of his aged beauties. Tonight's offering was the '98 Beaucastel. Beaucastel is one of the most celebrated red wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the 1998 vintage is apparently considered to be one of the best of recent decades for the region.

Who wouldn't be up for helping Tyrant out of his predicament of having to drink this wine?

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape was paired up with one of the better known Aussie versions of the classic Rhône blend - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre or GSM in Australian. The '98 Beaucastel was "heavy" on the Grenache and it contains all thirteen varieties permitted in C-d-P and, being a decade older, it might not be all that comparable to the Burge Holy Trinity but, once again, it was an interesting exercise in tasting similar but contrasting wines. The newer Aussie was the more powerful and fruit forward of two - as might be expected - but the Beaucastel was still surprisingly lively for a '98. The latter was the more elegant of the pairing but the Holy Trinity was a popular pour - and is likely far more accessible nowadays.

Since the Beaucastel incorporated all thirteen grapes that are allowed by AOC regulations, I think this is an appropriate time to add the remaining varieties from this baker's dozen that haven't been added to my Wine Century Club tally. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Picpoul were already counted in my first 100 but I'm taking the opportunity to increase the total by seven - please welcome Muscardin, Counoise, Clairette, Bourbelenc, Terret Noir, Picardin and Vacarèse. They may be minor components to the final blend but they're in there and I'm not likely to find varietal wines that feature any of these grapes. Certainly not in our BC market - and, if I'm ever going to make it to 200, I'm going to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself.

Oh, and by the way, the Asian Spiced and Braised Beef Short Ribs wasn't too shabby either.

1444.  2003 M. Chapoutier - Cigala (Vin de Pays d'Oc - France)

We might have been well into our dinner by now but it didn't take long for the last two wines to disappear. Tyrant just happened to have another Syrah blend for trying though. This Syrah/Grenache based blend is from the well known - and well regarded - M. Chapoutier but I'm not sure if the wine is still be produced under this name. I couldn't find any recent or easy references to Cigala online. As a Vin de Pays wine from Southern France, it rather paled to the previous two GSMs. I quite enjoy some of Chapoutier's wines but I don't know that I'd search this one out. It might have shown better had it not followed the line up of fine wines that it did tonight.

1445.  2012 Mission Hill Late Harvest Vidal Reserve (VQA Okanagan Valley)

The final treat for the night was a Baked Yoghurt with Candied Lime and Ginger paired with the Late Harvest Vidal. This was a lucky find from our pre-amble to this Fall's BC Wine Appreciation Society's Bus Tour
collection. While visiting Mission Hill, we were advised that the stellar dessert wine could only be called a Late Harvest wine because the grapes were picked and pressed at only -8.5°C instead of the minimum -9°C required to qualify as an Icewine. The variance of 0.5° in temperature may make little difference in the resulting wine but it leads to a huge difference in price - that extra 0.5° would have more than doubled the price of this bottle. Sad news for the winery's bottom line but it means we can buy twice as much - and I'm all in favour of that.

As the evening closed out, Tyrant and Panda Guy were heartily praised for another stellar repast - and the "negotiations" started to try and figure out a date for the next Dinner Club. The task was to find a date amenable to all before Jeaux and Matinder were scheduled to take off for their annual winter in the Caribbean. Here's hoping that we can work it out. Lady Di and She Who Must Be Obeyed are no slouches on the entertainment front themselves. Do I foresee some Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey on my dinner plate? One can only hope.

Turkey or not, I always look forward to the array of wines that the gang manage to dredge up for these little affairs. With wine lists like we had tonight, who needs food?

Oregon on The Quick

One of the most daunting tasks Boo and I faced on this road trip was going to be how to figure out which wineries to visit.  An afternoon in this valley or a day in that region didn't exactly afford us a leisurely visit to multiple wineries - particularly when I didn't really have a good grounding in any of the areas we'd be passing through.

We were going to have to wing it for a lot of this trip and draw on our "inner Blanche" to rely on the kindness of strangers to map out this little "streetcar" of a tour for us. I simply started asking wine folks we encountered "Where would you send your out-of-town friends if they only had time for one or two wineries?" and "Are they any wineries that shouldn't be missed?"

Certain names tend be repeated if you ask those questions enough and I figure they're likely going to be the best starting points. Bergström Wines was one of those names. I don't recall having ever run across them before but it seems that all the big names in the wine world definitely have: Robinson, Parker, Tanzer, Burghound, Wine Spectator and Wine & Spirits have all sung the praises of the family owned, boutique operation that only produces around 10,000 cases (depending on vintage variation) of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Our's was simply a drop in tasting. Had we known about Bergström beforehand - and had more time - I might have tried to set up a more comprehensive tour. That's not to say that we didn't have a thorough tasting though - four Pinots, a Chard and their just-released Pinot Rosé. An added treat was that we lucked into a chance to chat briefly over a glass of that Rosé with owner, John Bergström, who had just returned from out of town and had wandered by to try the Rosé for the first time himself.

Such a pleasure. Bergström will definitely be included the next time we manage to make it down Oregon way.

Considering how the morning had pretty much flown by, we figured we only had time for one more Willamette winery before we headed off to hit the coast and another name that had come up a couple of times was White Rose. Due to vineyard work and minimal signage, we didn't recognize White Rose's tasting room and we drove right by it - a couple of times - thinking it was just someone's home. We'd pretty much given up and decided that we might as well take our chances with another winery that we'd driven past during our hunt. Turned out that Domaine Serene, the neighbouring winery we happened upon, was no slouch either.

It's not hard to understand how "Serene" plays a role in the winery's name. Gorgeous lands. Beautiful facility. Sitting back and enjoying a picnic and a bottle of wine here would definitely result in some serenity - although I'm not sure how serene a morning after might be should anyone try and make their way through the whopper of a bottle they had on display. This one wasn't even full and lifting it was a good workout.

We mentioned our difficulty in finding White Rose and our host at Domaine Serene confirmed that the house we'd driven by was, indeed, the winery tasting room. Apparently, we weren't the first folks that had raised the issue. Although we were running behind, we hit White Rose's dirt road for the fourth time and finally managed to find the front door. I got the feeling that an extended visit and tasting here would be a very interesting time. From the site's history of producing quality fruit (before White Rose set up shop) and the rather unique take (to me at least) of their vine trellising, there was plenty of interesting information and sipping that had to be left for another time.

Besides, we had a coast to catch and the day wasn't getting any longer.

Our hope had been to leisurely cruise the ocean highway and fit in a couple of stops along the way but we also wanted to finish off the better part of the Oregon Coast before evening kicked in. After our hesitation to leave the Willamette wines behind us and our late start, our highway drive wasn't quite as languid or relaxed as it might have been. We drove the whole afternoon and decided to call Coos Bay and the Mill Bay Casino our home for the evening. While the casino accommodation itself was fine (if a tad pricey), we certainly didn't get any chance to find out if Coos Bay had anything to offer tourists. What little we saw would suggest the answer is no.

1298.  2011 Duck Pond Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

The casino restaurant had a limited wine list and we wanted to stay local; so we chose a Willamette Pinot Gris thinking it would match nicely with our largely seafood-based dinner choices. This Duck Pond Pinot Gris apparently had the pedigree as it had won Double gold at the 2012 Wine Press Northwest Platinum Judging Competition - one of a handful of competitions that I actually take some stock in. Sorry, but for me, the wine came across more as a commercial, bulk wine than it did a double gold winner. Perhaps it was the fact that we weren't overly impressed with our meals (except for the oysters) and, as a result, the wine itself suffered.

At least we finished the bottle - which is more than I can say about the bottle of bubbly plonk that greeted us in our room. It's not often that we open a bottle and we don't drink enough that it makes it to The List. We took one sip of our gift and promptly put aside our glasses, deciding to make a martini with the duty free vodka we'd picked up at the border instead.

I suppose there are some benefits to freewheeling a vacation and having the ability to play it by ear and set your agenda as the days progress. That's not usually me though. As a rule, I tend to have vacations - and particularly accommodation - mapped out long before we hit the road. This time, however, we decided to leave some gaps in the trip for flexibility and this was the first of those gaps. I think next time, I might need to do a little more planning when it comes to taking in the Oregon Coast  though. Winging it didn't seem to work so well for us this time.

Ah well. One evening and one dinner do not a vacation make. After all, we'd picked up some lovely wines in the morning and we've still got plenty of miles ahead of us - and lots more wine that will agree with us. Of that, I'm sure.

Rex Hill and Me

Par for the course, the start to our road trip was later than we'd hoped but then can you expect anything but a delayed onset when you don't finish packing the night before? Luckily, we weren't hit with a long wait at the border and we actually found ourselves driving over the Portland bridges by early afternoon.

Thinking we'd likely stop for a bit in Portland on the way home, we just kept on driving to try and fit in a couple tastings in the Willamette Valley. I know very little about Oregon wines and wineries but I certainly had my interest tweaked last summer at the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference in Portland. I considered myself lucky enough to be part of the bus that enjoyed a tour, tasting and dinner in the vineyard at Rex Hill as a conference side trip. Being thoroughly impressed at that time, I figured Rex Hill would be an appropriate place to start this time around.

Our schedule was limited to a quick sidle up to the bar in Rex Hill's gracious tasting room - and it quickly became clear that Boo and I were going to be sorely tested on this trip. Firstly, we brought the Miata for the trip. I mean who wouldn't for a summer road trip? Top down on winding coastal roads is a no brainer - even if trunk space was going to present a major challenge. But, on top of little space for wine purchases, Canadian Customs only allows each of us to bring back two - that's TWO, as in one, two, not two dozen - bottles of wine.

We could have easily gone over our limit at Rex Hill alone. We limited ourselves to a couple of single vineyard Pinots though and took off for Raptor Ridge, one of the other wineries I had a favourable impression of at WBC12.

Raptor Ridge is named for the many raptors that make their homes in the vineyard - red-tailed hawks, kestrels, sharp-shinned hawks and owls. The vineyard is located on a ridge of the Chehalem Mountains  and the tasting room offered a superb view of the surrounding area. A small producer, each vintage consists of only around 7,500 cases; however, in addition to Oregon's celebrated Pinot Noir, Raptor Ridge also interestingly produces a Grüner Veltliner and a Tempranillo.

Our afternoon had flown by and it was time to make our way to McMinville, our resting spot for Day One.

While trying to locate the historically handsome Hotel Oregon, we happened to drive past Dobbes Family Estate. With Boo's last name being "Dobbs" (without the "e"), we had to make a pit stop - even if there was only about 15 minutes until closing time. Despite our late arrival, we were treated to an extensive tasting flight of single vineyard and cuvée Pinots, as well as some Syrah and a fortified, port-styled wine that we needed to buy regardless of our Custom's limitations.

Throughout our wine tastings, we checked with our hosts for their top recommendations for wineries and restaurants when visitors are faced with restrictive time frames. One of those suggestions was to head off to the back room of Nick's restaurant, which just happened to be around the corner from our hotel.

We also discovered a possible saving grace for our wine purchase and storage problems - Bring Your Own wine. By taking advantage of as many BYO restaurants as possible on this trip, we were going to be able to be a little more appreciative with our wine purchases.

1297.  2009 Rex Hill - Shea Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

I don't generally reach for a Pinot when dining on Italian fare, but they certainly drink lighter Chianti and Valpolicella by the gallon in Italy. So, I didn't think we'd be losing out on our Shea Vineyard Pinot. One thing we quickly learned is that there seems to be a lot of correlation between the Shea Vineyard and fine Oregon Pinot Noir. All three of the wineries we visited today offer a Shea Vineyard Pinot. We were advised that Shea is perhaps the state's best-known vineyard site and that wineries line up to buy the fruit produced by Dick and Deidre Shea. Fewer than a couple of dozen wineries are fortunate enough to get the coveted fruit.

Even those wineries that do get their hands on Shea fruit don't necessarily get a lot of it. The 2009 vintage was a big one in the Willamette but Rex Hill was only able to make 247 cases of Shea Pinot Noir.

Seeing as how special our bottle was, I was a little concerned that we were drinking it too soon. I'd normally like to lay bottles of this pedigree down for at least a couple of years, but I think it's fair to say that it was drinking beautifully. Lush and fruit forward, it was a big Pinot but it was a great match to our meatballs, pizza and lasagna. Starting off with this Rex Hill was a real treat. Indeed, if every bottle we tried on this trip were this tasty, it was going to be one enjoyable trip.

If only.

It had been a long first day though and we wanted to try and hit another couple wineries in the morning before heading out to the coast. As such, we reluctantly passed on the Hotel Oregon's rooftop bar and their McMenamin's home brews.

And this was only Day One.

WBC12 - Winding Down

It's true.  I had wanted to attend 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference as a learning experience so that I could get a feel for what might be on the horizon at the 2013 conference - particularly since it's going to be held on my home turf:  the Okanagan Valley.  Little did I realize that it was going to be such a trial for me on the equipment side of things.  Not only did I forget to take either camera on our one winery tour but it would seem that about half the photos I did take on the "number one" camera seem to have disappeared into digital oblivion.  Not sure how or where they vanished to but that's why I'm 1) stuck with no shot (presently) of one of my favourite wines from the weekend and 2) using an iPhone shot of the other bottle at a completely different occasion from when we actually drank a bottle.

Good thing this is only a hobby and not my real job.

1226.  2010 Cowhorn Grenache 58 (Applegate Valley - Oregon)

1227.  N.V. Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois - Les Petits Grains (AOC Muscats de Saint Jean de Minervois)

Wine Bloggers' Conference 12

As if I need another distraction to keep me from catching up with all the bottles I still have to blog and add to The List! Here I am spending an extended weekend in Portland to check out all things wine and, hopefully, meet some of the interesting bloggers who's posts I continually run across online.

There have been Wine Bloggers' Conferences since 2007 and I've wanted to attend one ever since I first learned about the one that was held in Walla Walla, Washington, back in 2010. I wasn't able to attend that one, nor last year's in Virginia, but here I am ready to cool off from the heat wave that's currently blasting away in Oregon with a glass or two - whether it's white, red, rosé or bubble.

What with all the "fun" we've been having at home lately, it wasn't even clear that I'd make it down to Portland. I couldn't make it down in time to take in any of the pre-Conference winery tours today, but at least the timing worked out in the end to take in the main weekend - and neither Vancouver rush hour, nor backed up Massey Tunnel, nor zealous border guard or snail paced Seattle Expressway proved enough to prevent my eventual arrival in Portland.

The schedule promises to be jam-packed and it all gets under way in a couple of hours. In the mean time, I thought I'd get started with an initial post over a glass of Oregon winery, Sokol Blosser's, white blend, Evolution. Just a nice little way to start things off.

I just hope that I'm not going to be tested or graded on the number or the quality of my posts. I'd hate to be banned from any future conferences - especially since WBC13 is going to be held in the Okanagan Valley and I can play home-boy to all the folks I meet this weekend.

An Easter Bonnet Birthday

Here it is Easter and it's time for the one of the more anticipated events in our family - the annual Easter dinner at my sister's, featuring the now "famous" Easter Bonnet making party and fashion parade.

And, to top it off, since my birthday falls on Easter this year, I figure I deserve an automatic win in the highly competitive quest for top bonnet.

Of course, the event also necessitates hours of effort and "family make nice" - not that it's all that difficult, but a glass or two (or three or four) definitely helps out with all the "want to play this" and "I can't believe you said that."

1098. 2005 Villa Rinaldi - Gran Cuvée Bianca (Verona - Italy)

I thought a little bubble would be a nice way to celebrate the old b-day (and I'm certainly feeling the "old" part) and a birthday seemed like just the occasion to pull out this Villa Rinaldi. One of the very few Italian producers of Méthode Traditionelle sparkling wines, Villa Rinaldi was, for a couple of years, one of my favourite stops at the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival. Unfortunately, they haven't participated for the last couple of years; so, I think this might be the only bottle that I have hanging around. I know I've been waiting a while to open it.

Popping the cork certainly seemed to help get the creative juices flowing with my birthday cake inspired Easter bonnet. Birthday boy or not, I thought it was a winner.

As for the bubble, the Gran Cuvée Bianca is made from 100% Chardonnay from the Alto Adige valley to the North of Venice and Verona. It is one of ten different sparkling wines that Villa Rinaldi makes - along with an Amarone and Recioto. All of their wines come with a fairly hefty price tag - I think this one clocked in at $55 - but the wines that I've tried are beautifully crafted. As mentioned, unlike most Italian sparklers, Villa Rinaldi uses the Méthode Traditionelle with secondary fermentation in the bottle and, interestingly, the Gran Cuvée also sees some oak during the first fermentation.

Completely dry, with classic brioche notes, I think this bottle can stand its ground with a true Champagne on any day. Luckily, this was our day.

1099. 2009 Ponzi Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

I can't say that I know much about Oregon wineries. For some reason, they don't participate much in the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival and I don't think they have much of a presence on local bottle shop shelves - except for maybe some higher end Pinot Noirs. I grabbed this bottle, as part of a Costco run in Washington state, during a jaunt to Seattle - precisely because it was an unknown in my experience but also because I do know that the Willamette is synonymous with many of Oregon's big wines.

I subsequently learned a little bit about Ponzi Vineyards. Having moved, during the late 1960's, to the Willamette Valley, southwest of Portland, the Ponzi family was one of the first to start planting Pinot Noir in the Pacific Northwest. The new winery garnered favourable press and helped establish Oregon as a legitimate wine growing region. The second generation of the family is now fully ensconced in day-to-day operations, including the winemaking itself. The winery has also stayed ahead of the curve by adopting sustainable farming and winemaking practices early on.

With two bottles now under our collective belt, the creativity going into this year's bonnets was abundantly evident. Granted, there was no Easter thong this year, but we did have Boo's leaning tower "masterpiece." Architecturally inventive, his vision was perhaps a little too stimulating - the boy may not be consistently lauded for his fashion sense but, regardless, he was thrilled with his final chapeau. That is, until it fell apart once he actually put it on his head.

Oh well, there was no way his bonnet was going to top mine this year anyhow. We figured we could just give him another glass of wine to keep him happy.

N.V. Père Anselme - La Fiole du Pape (AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape - Rhône - France)

With dinner ready to go, our bonnet workspace needed to be cleared up. After all, we needed a little space for another bottle of wine. This one does fall prey somewhat to the whole danger of over-marketing - with its faux aging and all; however, Père Anselme has been selling La Fiole du Pape in its distinctive bottle for decades. Indeed, the wine's name, "La Fiole," is a reference to its one-of-a-kind bottle and translates as "the Flask."

This Châteauneuf-du-Poof (as my sister Vixen calls it) isn't unique only because of its bottle. It is a négociant wine - where the winery purchases its grapes and wines from a number of different sources - and is a non-vintage wine in that it is blended from multiple vintages. I read on one site that, apparently, La Fiole is the only multi-vintage blend allowed under French law that still qualifies for AOC designation. I suppose a little leniency here or there might be more available when you're the largest selling CdP in the world. Between 30,000 and 40,000 cases of La Fiole can be sold worldwide annually.

Indeed, it turns out that we've even had a bottle previously as the wine was added to The List way back at #382. Guess we'll have to wait a day now before we can hit #1100.

As with most Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines, this is primarily Grenache-based (approximately 90%) with Mourvèdre and Syrah making up the balance. Thing is, I don't know if it was all that great of wine. It came across as a little insipid and lacking. I've enjoyed many a marvellous CdP wines, but this bottle didn't really rank up there with the best. It wasn't bad by any means; it just wasn't a fave, given the fact that it's a $40 bottle.

All the same, the wines and bonnets made for a memorable Easter birthday. After all the wine, I'm quite sure that my bonnet was destined for the Easter Bonnet Hall of Fame. At least in my own mind.

An Unexpected Treat

I knew, before we left for our little Southern Sojourn, that I was getting close to opening the 1000th bottle on this Wine Odyssey. Before it became apparent that this milestone was likely to happen, I'd rather envisioned reaching that point with a bit of a fanfare and some big bottles from our cellar. Naturally, the last thing I'd been worrying about on the vacation was what number bottle of wine we were opening. In the back of my mind, I was just hoping that the occasion and bottle would be fitting.

I think we met that hope.

Our day saw an early start, Desirée regaled us with her tale of frolicking dolphins as she watched the sun rise yesterday. We figured - no lounging in bed with a hefty sleep-in - we'd best join her this time since it was our final morning on the Outer Banks. Problem was, it's hard to watch the sun rise with an 80% cloud cover. All the same, we saw enough to justify the early rising. No dolphins but we did see a fisherman frolic if that's worth anything.

Following a quick clean and some hefty hugs goodbye, Desirée and Cruncher headed back to Virginia and Boo and I made a quick stop at the outlet mall. One never knows if you'll find the odd bargain prior to Black Friday or not. Never having been in the States for Black Friday, I wouldn't know if we were successful or not, but I doubt you can ever have enough Christmas-themed boxers.

We needed to make the long drive back to Raleigh/Durham in order to catch our flight back to Vancouver the next morning. Timing for flights was such that we needed the extra night in town. So, Boo and I decided to take a stab at Priceline for the first time. We both think we scored nicely with a room at the Carolina Inn - an historic hotel at the gates of UNC - Chapel Hill. A throwback to Southern Colonial living with modern day comfort, we were totally enthralled with our short stay at the "University's Living Room."

We settled into our room, opened one of the bottles of local wine that Desirée left for us and toasted our good fortune.

1000. 2009 Rag Apple Lassie - Pinot Gris (Yadkin Valley - North Carolina)

With a rather unique, flared bottle and a distinct, cartoon-esque label, we weren't expecting much from this wine. We were pleasantly surprised following our initial knock backs. The wine - named after the owner's childhood, state Grand Champion calf - was a bona fide sip. Many of our home turf Pinot Gris from the Okanagan are rated right up with some of the best. Rag Apple Lassie maybe didn't hit those heights but I think it could stack up with a good percentage of the wines we'd find back home.

Other than just finding a bovine gracing the label and alluding to the vineyard's past as a dairy farm, a little reading tells a history of the old dairy morphing into a tobacco farm after the Vietnam War. Soon afterward though, tobacco products largely fell out of favour with the public and that, in turn, saw the possibility of a comfortable livelihood fade sharply. It was a gamble but the Hobson family wasn't about to let three generations of working the farm disappear and they planted grapes in 2000 - one of the first to do so in modern times in the Yadkin Valley. They now produce around 6500 cases of mostly classical vinifera varietals - the ones you standardly see as varietal wines in your local bottle shop. You won't see the exotic Wine Century Club varietals for sale here that were omnipresent at the other North Carolina winery we tried, Stonefield Cellars.

Having perked up a touch, Boo and I made a quick tour of the campus, saw Occupy Chapel Hill's four tent camp and wandered a bit around a campus cemetery (right up Boo's alley). I can only imagine the Halloween activities that go on here.

We took the easy route for dinner and ate at the Crossroads Dining Room in the Carolina Inn and arrived to a welcome surprise. It was "No Whining Monday" and all bottles of wine were half price in the restaurant. Yippee! I didn't know at the time that our dinner choices were marking a monumental point in this blog, but the special did allows us a little guilt-free leeway in our wine budget for the evening.

1001. 2009 Four Graces - Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

We went with our server's suggestion on this bottle. I figured a Pinot Noir would be versatile enough to match up with fish and duck we'd ordered and he said that he quite enjoyed this wine. The winery's website proclaims a New World approach to capturing its terroir and there's little doubt that this was New World. It was about as bold as I'm familiar with when it comes to Pinot Noir. I don't know much about Willamette Pinot's in general (other than that they're often considered world class) but this was as big as most reds of any varietal pedigree. It wasn't a bad thing. I'm a pretty big fan of fruit jumping out of my glass and we had no problem finishing the wine, but this almost as surprising in its boldness as the Pinot Gris was in its drinkability.

The food was bold enough for the wine though. In fact, this was one of our favourite meals of the trip. Boo joyously proclaimed his catfish and jambalaya to be as good as he could wish for - and that's after he tried to figure out exactly how he was going to duplicate the prosciutto wrapped dates stuffed with blue goat cheese that we had as a starter.

There was no need for dessert whatsoever, but there's never any harm in at least looking at the menu - particularly while on vacation. It wasn't the desserts that caught my eye so much, but the dessert wines. There was a bottle that immediately perked me up. When I asked our server about it, I told him that I was quite familiar with the winery but that I didn't know that they even produced a dessert wine. He didn't know much off hand either but he went back to ask the cellar manager about it. He returned to say that they couldn't tell us much because no one could recall having sold a bottle in over 10 years at the restaurant.

At $80 a half bottle, there might have been a reason that I'd never run across it before and no one else had splurged for it. But, after all, this was "No Whining Monday" and its reduced prices. I still wasn't so inclined to pay $40 for a bottle that I knew nothing about, was old and that we certainly didn't need. It'd be our third bottle of the day and I don't do hangovers on planes - at least not well. Our server went back to talk to the manager and see if he could work something out. When he returned and said that they'd pop the cork for $25, I still had to think about it but Boo said, "Go ahead. We can always take it back to the room with us."

1002. 1998 La Spinetta - Passito Oro (Piedmont - Italy)

Boo and I had visited one of La Spinetta's three wineries when we were in Italy a few years back (before I'd started this blog unfortunately) and we've been fans of Spinetta ever since. We tend to only see their high end Barbaresco's and Barolo's (and I do mean high end) back home in Vancouver. So, we don't get much opportunity to try their wines. This would be a special occasion - worthy of reaching the half way point on this Wine Odyssey - especially since I didn't know the wine even existed.

Oro is an interesting take on a dessert wine - at least for me. It's made in a method that I haven't run across before - at least not in this particular version. Once the 100% Moscato grapes have been picked, this Mosto Parzialmente Fermentato method sees the grapes racked to partially dry in the cellar for a couple of months - much in the way Amarone grapes are handled. The grapes are only crushed after certain levels of fermentation have already occurred during the partial dehydration. One of the results is a more concentrated juice with bigger flavours. That result sounds somewhat similar to the late harvest wines we find back home, but, to my knowledge, all our concentration of the grape is done while it is still on the vine and desiccation of the grape isn't the goal of the longer hang time.

The winery website says that the 1998 was the first vintage of this wine for La Spinetta and there isn't a lot produced - only around 4000 half bottles on average. Even with a decade of ageing, it was still a rich drink - reminiscent of apricots and sweet oranges but with still enough acidity to draw out a long finish. We took the bottle with us to the bar next door and had a relaxing finish to the evening and to our trip. Thanks to our server would seem in order for the gentle arm-twisting he performed to coax us into ordering the bottle after all. I think it was definitely worth it.

Our little trip South may be ending, but we still have half an Odyssey to go on the blog. There's no way that the occasion or the pedigree of the wine can be this extravagant for all 2001 Bottles, but it's fair to say that we're doing our best to take advantage of those occasions when they arise and that I'm certain we'll experience our fair share of great bottles and times over the thousand bottles still to come.

Cloudline Pinot Noir

Just the other day, I'd posted the fact that the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference is going to be held in Portland, Oregon, and I mentioned that I don't really know much about Oregon wines. Then, having just quaffed a Napa Merlot at our picnic the other night, I thought why not go full circle on the Sideways reference and try a Pinot.

Despite my general lack of knowledge for this region, I know that Oregon and, in particular, the Willamette Valley make claim to some of the top Pinot Noir vineyards and producers outside of Burgundy. I don't, however, get much chance to try those wines - outside of the odd sip at a wine tasting or festival.

Once again, there are seemingly two forces of evil that construe against my Oregon yearnings. The first is that we just don't see many Oregon wines North of the 49th Parallel. That may be a result of there being a large number of boutique wineries that just don't have a lot of product to send up the I-5. I don't know.

I do know, however, the second reason is that, once a few wines actually make it across the border, the price becomes rather unappealing - regardless of the lure of the wine. I checked the provincial government system and they show only twelve Oregon wines as available. Of that dozen, two wines come in around $20. The rest of them are all between $30 and $50. Unfortunately, my budget just doesn't allow me to spend that kind of cash on a mid-week wine, especially where I know nothing about the producer and just want to give the wine a taste.

I tend to have to grab the odd bottle, now and then, when we get the chance while visiting Washington state. That's how tonight's bottle made it into our cellar. I think it came compliments of a Costco run.

906. 2007 Cloudline Pinot Noir (Oregon)

This is the type of bottle that I might expect to see up here in the Vancouver market. Cloudline is a project of Dreyfus Ashby, wine importers in the States. Similar to the négociant labels in France, the winery doesn't actually have vineyards where they grow their own grapes; rather, they buy grapes from local producers and produce their own line. I understand that Cloudline has a fairly large production (upwards of 37,000 cases of this 2007 vintage).

Not having the costs of the vineyard to deal with, Cloudline has managed to keep the price around $20 which is reasonable for Pinot Noir. That's in the States though; I doubt it could hit the BC market at that price point.

Dreyfus Ashby has a long time relationship with Joseph Drouhin wines in France and with Drouhin's Oregon venture, Domaine Drouhin Oregon. As such, it's been an easy fit for Véronique Drouhin to act as Cloudline consulting winemaker. Accordingly, the wine has some experience behind it.

It's difficult to make a reasonably priced Pinot Noir - at least one that successfully accomplishes a complex and nuanced finish that the varietal is most lauded for. There was a softness and subtleness to the wine, but for my palate, Cloudline didn't hit any wow factors. I may not be the biggest Pinotphile, but it wasn't a wine that would compel me to run out and try more wines from the region. All the same, it was a means of getting a little more exposure to the wines that Oregon has to offer.

As mentioned in my other post, I'm just going to have to do my best to make it down to the Wine Bloggers Conference and dive into all things Oregon next year.

The North American Champion

I think I'm a tad happier about Canada going up against the US in a virtual wine contest than on the field at the Women's World Cup. The US has won the World Cup twice and is going into the 2011 tournament as one of the top ranked teams. I couldn't even tell you when the Canadian gals last beat the US - if, indeed, they ever have.

Canada

vs.

United States

Most people would likely cringe at the thought of even matching Canadian wines against American ones as well - but I think we've got some wines, particularly with the whites, where we can completely hold our own. However, since we have a financial limit to the cost of the wines in these early rounds and since Boo, once again, has me on a "No Buy Leash," I had to just pull two wines that we have in the cellar for tonight's contest.

I actually don't know anything about the American winery, but something must have tweaked my interest enough to pick up a bottle. It's likely the fact that it's a Riesling. Regular readers will know that I'm rather fond of my Rieslings. Hopefully, this match-up isn't skewed too much in the Americans' favour because of the varietal.

841. 2008 Montinore Estate - Almost Dry Riesling (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

842. 2008 Poplar Grove Pinot Gris (Okanagan Valley)

I think the operative part of the American label is "Almost Dry." Myself, I might be inclined to say, "Almost Dry - But Still Really Close to a Dessert Wine." To me, "almost dry" should still connote some presence of acidity - to counter the residual sugar. Maybe things are a little different in Oregon though, because I didn't particularly find any "dry" to this wine.

That's not always a bad thing. There are plenty of occasions that cry out for a little sweetness. I'm not so sure that a head-to-head taste off against a Pinot Gris is one of them though.

Montinore's website says that the Almost Dry Riesling has gone "through an evolution over the last few years" and that they've "come to realize that we like this Riesling with just the slightest hint of sweetness on the front of the palate with a crisp and dry finish." That's what I would have hoped for as well, but I don't think that description was fully delivered in the bottle. Perhaps that description relates to the fact that they're now promoting the 2010 vintage and we opened the 2008.

The Montinore label refers to the wine as organic; however, the website states that the estate vineyards were actually certified as biodynamic in 2008. That's some big time organic. We still don't don't tend to see a lot of organic wines in Vancouver. So, that's a definite plus in my books. I wouldn't be opposed to sampling one of Montinore's other wines - particularly a Pinot Noir since that's probably the most notable varietal that abounds in the Willamette Valley - but, hopefully, it wouldn't be "almost dry."

In any event, the Poplar Grove Pinot Gris was the favourite for the night. Owner, Ian Sutherland, refers to the Pinot Gris as the winery's "signature white wine." As much as I like Poplar Grove, this wasn't exactly everything that I'd hoped it would be either. Its tendency to "off-dry" with this vintage might have left the Canadian "entry" as an also ran in this "World Cup" match had the American wine not been even sweeter.

I don't want to be simply branded as a "homer" here, but I'm going to give the wine win to Canada. It's only a 1-0 score though as neither wine really captured the imagination with a stellar performance. I don't know if the result on a soccer pitch would be the same but that will have to be for another occasion. I actually wouldn't mind seeing our girls meet the Americans in the real World Cup though. It'd mean that they've moved well along into the playoffs - where anything, like a Canadian 1-0 win, is possible.